A mother has spoken to The Mirror about how her wedding became "the worst day of her life" after the venue was double-booked with a rave event. Natalie Rhodes, 40, spent almost £6,000 for a picturesque wedding abroad in Malta, only for it to be spoiled when 150 ravers turned up.
Perfect Weddings Abroad organised the big day for Natalie, who was shocked to be surrounded by half-naked ravers covered in UV body paint and waving glowsticks as she prepared to walk down the aisle. Natalie said: "We got married abroad, we had this package and it cost us about £6,000 just for the wedding itself and we were promised exclusivity of a beach club.
"Two days before the wedding, one of the colleagues that were abroad basically told us that we would be sharing the venue with a party of people and that it wouldn't be exclusive at all. We had half-naked partygoers watching us get married on the beach. We had children there and it was just like one big rave."
Natalie and her partner, Adam Butterworth, 38, had been planning their wedding for most of their relationship, with having two children and Covid getting in the way. Once restrictions were lifted, the pair did all they could to ensure they had the perfect wedding day.
Natalie was quoted £5,995, and promised by the wedding planners exclusive use of the venue, a professional photographer and free reign of entertainment. She continued: "It was the worst day of my life. We had about 10 ravers for every wedding guest. We were outnumbered - there were about 150 of them.
"The music they were playing, it was very loud and had loads of swear words in it, it was like rapper and rave music. It was aggressive and pumping, they were all jumping around and dancing with the glow sticks and everything."
The wedding DJ was told to leave as his music, selected by Natalie, clashed with the dance tunes played by the other party. She was also informed she would have to pay extra for a wedding cake and the bouquet.
While she says her wedding day was ruined, she added that she's planning on organising another ceremony, but this time in the UK.
She added: "It cut the day short, it's a real shame. We're devastated, we don't feel like it was a proper wedding at all - we're trying to get money back off them through compensation and maybe doing it again in this country. They're not taking any responsibility at the moment, we have threatened small claims court and we're waiting to hear back.
"We're still not doing it in Rochdale, we'll probably do it in the Lakes - Windermere sort of area. I hope there are no raves there."
Perfect Weddings Abroad have been approached for comment.
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